Crossing The Universe
by klutzysunshine
Summary: The team escapes from the Framework with three people they thought they lost forever. They're all a little off-balance as a result.


**I don't own Agents of SHIELD nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.**

* * *

To say that nobody on the team knew how to deal with everything post-Framework was an understatement. They had lost Mace but also gained three surprising additions - Grant Ward, Antoine Triplett, and Hope Mackenzie. Due to the Darkhold's influence (thanks, magic), none of them were computer code or LMDs and were fully human. Nobody really knew what do with this, especially since most of them were still struggling with their actions in the Framework. "At least I know my way around this place," Grant mused to Skye as they made their way around the Playground to find him a room.

She nodded. "True. It's just everything else that's different. How are you doing with all of this?" Genuinely curious, Skye stopped in her tracks and awaited his answer.

He shrugged. "Not entirely sure yet."

"Fair," Skye conceded as they started walking. They found his room at the end of the hall since most of them had already been claimed (Trip was on the other end of the hall while Hope was staying with Mack).

Grant sat down on his bed and sighed. He still couldn't believe he was in living in an alternate universe, even though the Framework itself was technically an alternate world. He pondered the existence of other alternate universes for a few seconds but it was giving him a headache so he stopped and turned to Skye. "How are you?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "Just dealing with this the best way I can. I think I've finally forgiven my Grant Ward because I understand even more why he turned out the way he did. And I miss Lincoln - my boyfriend - but his death wasn't my fault so I'm moving on now. Fitz is spiraling and I don't know how to help him and poor May is still stuck in her hospital room. Everything's fucked up." She blew out a breath. "Wow, I feel a lot better now."

He grinned at her and then pulled Skye in for a half hug. Skye rested her head on his shoulder. "I could get used to this." But she was terrified of her changing feelings towards him and what it meant. Could she be falling in love with a different Grant Ward? She wanted to push him away but honestly felt too comfortable to do so. She'd put her walls back up later.

Grant laughed. "Good, I'm glad. He went to apologize again for his other self's actions but stopped himself - he wasn't to blame so he shouldn't feel guilty. It seemed like a logical thought process but he was having a hard time getting his heart to accept it. His therapist (Victoria insisted on it once she found him, although he had a hard time trusting anything at first) would have a field day with this. And wait, was his therapist even real? Fuck, this was exhausting and confusing beyond belief.

Skye reluctantly pulled away and patted his shoulder. "I'll see you in the kitchen later, I guess? I'm looking forward to more conversations with you. This is nice," she admitted.

"It is. I'll see you later." He waved her at she left. Boredom setting in, he hoped to be able to find enough money to buy a TV soon. For now, Grant got up and went to find Antoine. Fortunately for him, he was in the common room.

"Shit's fucked," Antoine said to Grant as soon as he sat down.

"You're telling me. I am glad Hydra's been destroyed here and we don't have to worry about them anymore, though. That's a giant plus." Grant had been a real SHIELD agent for a long time before the agency fell and afterwards, being part of the Resistance meant he was constantly worrying about something. Now he didn't have to and it was fucking him up.

"You still hopelessly in love with your girl?" Antoine teased.

"Do you really have to ask me that? But she's never going to feel the same way about me because of my other self and I have to learn to live with it." It hurt but Grant understood completely, and he was definitely willing to strike up a friendship with Skye. He'd move on eventually (a complete lie. Skye was the love of his life and he was still ready to die for her. Nearly had, in fact).

Antoine shook his head in amusement. "I'm looking forward to watching you two. This'll be fun."

"What a great friend you are, Antoine." Grant could only laugh.

"Shut up," he shot back.

"You shut up."

Mack entered the room at that exact moment and stared at the two of them for a few seconds. "You two are worse than my kid."

"We can be pretty immature," Antoine conceded as he punched Grant in the shoulder.

"I'm going to kick your ass," Grant playfully threatened.

"If you're going to fuck shit up, why don't you go somewhere else so you don't ruin the common room?" Mack suggested.

Grant snorted. "Don't worry about it. I'll kick his ass another time."

"I'd like to see you try," Antoine taunted, dodging a punch from his friend. "Fuck yeah!" he cheered.

"Again, worse than my daughter." Mack sat down in a different chair and just watched the two of them fight back and forth for about ten minutes before they finally just gave up.

* * *

The entire team came together for dinner later and it wasn't as awkward as they thought it was going to be. Wandering away from her slice of pizza for a few minutes, Hope tugged on Jemma's shoulder. "British lady?" she asked.

"She's never going to call me by my real name, is she?" Jemma asked rhetorically. "What is it, Hope?"

"Can you teach me some science in the lab later?" the little girl questioned hopefully. She was curious about so many things, and Mack was proud of her for it.

"Of course I can. You are going to be part of the STEM field someday, young lady. I hope you know that." Jemma leaned down and hugged her then stood up, wiping tears off her face. "I don't know why I'm crying," she murmured.

Elena breezed into the room and smiled at Hope upon laying eyes on her. "Hello, Hope. How are you today?"

"Great! How are you?" Hope questioned.

"Fantastic," Elena murmured as Mack kissed the top of her head. "Hello to you too."

"You look beautiful today."

"Stop trying to butter me up, Alphonso Mackenzie. We're not having any sex because there's a child in your room now," she muttered under her breath. She loved Hope already and was grateful Mack was getting a chance to raise her but the recent addition was already interfering with their sex life.

"We can always get creative. I'm sure Jemma would watch her if I asked." Mack couldn't believe he was willing to let Hope out of his sight for more than five minutes (especially after all they went through because of Hydra) but he was desperate.

"Maybe." Elena leaned up and kissed him before going to grab some pizza of her own.

"You are tearing in that pizza like somebody's going to steal it," Skye observed as she watched Grant wolf down his food.

He shrugged. "I'm starving and was craving pizza. Sue me."

"Careful, she might take you up on it!" Antoine called across the room.

"Shut up, Trip!" Skye yelled back with a grin on her face. She missed this man so much and was forever grateful the Framework had at least given him back. It wasn't the same Trip she always knew but they'd all be struggling with this for a long time.

"Make me!"

"You two are like children. Hope, maybe you can teach them a few things," Grant told the little girl.

She giggled. "Maybe."

Mack stepped in then. "Okay, please stop corrupting my child. Two, you're one to talk after you and Trip screwed around earlier." He rolled his eyes at them.

"Leave them alone," Elena warned as he sat down next to her.

"This is really nice. I missed this," Skye reluctantly admitted. Nothing had been the same once Hydra came out of the shadows and although the entire situation was still weird, everything finally seemed to be getting back on track.

"We all did," Coulson told her as he joined them.

Grant felt a little uneasy around the man who had murdered him in this world (and had been a shitty teacher in the other one) - he had to work on it but not now. Maybe never, actually. "Skye, you want to watch a movie or something? Just you and me before anybody gets any ideas."

"Wow, throwing down the gauntlet already." Jemma flashed him a smile. She had finally realized she couldn't punish him for their Ward's actions and was making an effort to treat him better.

"Always." Grant was also making an effort although he still wanted to give in to some leftover passive-aggressiveness.

"Maybe. I get to pick the movie and then kick your ass at Battleship. That okay with you?" Skye burst into laughter at the look of outrage on his face.

"How dare you! I am very good at Battleship, just so you know. I'm the reigning master."

"Dude, there's a kid in the room," Antoine told him.

Grant cracked up. "Thanks for making it dirty. Can always count on you for that, Antoine. Nice."

"You're on." Skye couldn't believe she was restarting their competitions but she wanted to get to know him better.

* * *

Unfortunately for Grant, he ran into Fitz first before he and Skye could start playing the game and watching a movie. "Hey, Fitz. What's up?" Grant felt a little uncomfortable around the man after everything he had seen him do in the Framework but again, he was willing to make an effort too.

FItz scuffed his shoes on the floor. "You know, I should have before and I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner, but I finally understand why our Grant acted the way he did. He was raised by a monster who brainwashed and abused him. We should have given him another chance." He felt shaky and on edge, and was trying to avoid everyone on the team in the aftermath of everything.

"Fitz, you were brainwashed by Madame Hydra. AIDA. We all understand and don't blame you. If you would stop avoiding everybody, you would know that." He wasn't about to touch anything else Fitz had said because he had never met John Garrett - the man died on a mission years before he joined SHIELD.

"I know that logically but I can't accept it. But I am willing to get to know you better." Fitz couldn't shut down the guilt no matter how hard he tried and avoiding everyone (including Jemma) was easier.

"Good, I'm glad." Grant smiled at him.

"Is there any pizza left? I'm starving." He was kicking himself for not getting any earlier.

"Of course but you better hurry up and get it before anyone else does." Grant waved goodbye as Fitz left and then joined Skye.

"Thanks for talking to him," she told him after he sat down.

He shrugged. "No big deal. It's what any of you would have done."

"You are a good man, Grant Douglas Ward. Don't you ever let anyone tell you otherwise." Damn it, Skye couldn't let herself go this way. It would only end in heartbreak.

He ducked down in embarrassment. "Thank you. And what's your full name here?"

"I am now going by Skye Daisy Johnson. I lost myself and turned myself into someone I didn't even know for a few years because it was easier but I'm back now." Skye finally felt like herself for the first time in a long time and it was freeing.

"Well then, Skye Daisy Johnson, I am going to kick your fucking ass at Battleship."

"Fuck you. You're on, Agent Ward." Skye shook her head and started looking for something to watch first so their game wouldn't be interrupted.

Skye ended up winning four times compared to Grant's two (he complained about it endlessly but found he enjoyed just watching her laugh).

* * *

"And we don't have to worry about Hydra anymore?" a skeptical Hope asked her father when they left the base the next morning.

"You'll never have to worry about them again, Hope. I promise you that. And I'm going to keep you safe, got it?" Mack knew he was too overprotective but after everything they had been through, he couldn't help it.

"No more checkpoints?" she checked.

"No more checkpoints or random searches." He grabbed her hand and grinned when Elena joined them.

"We ready to have some fun today?" She looked forward to learning more about Hope and what she liked and disliked.

Hope nodded. "Yes, I am! Please don't kiss, though. It's gross." She was happy her dad had found someone and seemed happy but she still didn't need to see it.

Elena and Mack exchanged glances. "Just for that, I'm going to kiss her now. Nice going, Hope Mackenzie." He kissed her and then leaned down and kissed Hope too.

The three of them got into a car and made their way to the zoo.

* * *

Grant found himself wandering around the Playground, unsure of what to do. He hadn't been cleared to go on missions yet and it was driving him stir crazy. He desperately needed to talk to Coulson about this soon so he'd have something to do. He ran into Antoine in the gym. "You needed to let off some steam too," he guessed.

Antoine nodded. "Yes, I did. It feels like there's an itch in the back of my brain telling me there's something I need to know but no fucking clue what."

Grant sighed in relief. "Thank fuck you feel the same way." He didn't feel quite so alone anymore.

"No problem, man." Antoine longed to just spill everything he was feeling but Grant probably felt the same so maybe they could drunkenly rant together later.

The two of them could definitely lean on each other to get through this, and they were both grateful for it.

* * *

Cleared for missions just three days later, Grant was sent out with Skye to find an Inhuman suspected of causing tornadoes. "It's a pretty awesome power to have," he told her.

She shrugged. "I can cause earthquakes but tornadoes seem a little more terrifying, honestly." Skye was not impressed by this Inhuman's powers at all, and she intended to take him back to SHIELD as soon as possible.

"Well, I have yet to see you in action because your Framework powers were different so let's go!" Grant fist pumped and she stared at him. "What?"

"You're a dork. I don't know why I didn't see this before but maybe it was because we were too busy running for our lives." Skye couldn't wait to find out what else she discovered about him.

"Let's go, Skye." Grant smirked at her and the two took off down the alleyway to find the Inhuman they were looking for.

Unfortunately, when they did find him, earthquake powers and tornado powers really didn't mix all that well. "I'm going to fucking kill him!" Skye shouted.

"Maybe later!" he shouted back as she waved her hand and finally knocked the Inhuman off his feet so hard he hit his head on the ground and passed out. Grant looked at her in awe (and maybe he was a little turned on). "Wow."

Caught in the moment, Skye grabbed his shirt. "Don't you 'wow' me, Grant Ward."

"Why can't I wow you? Isn't that against the law now?" he asked, suddenly realizing how close together they really were.

"Maybe." Then "Fuck it," she declared and kissed him. He moaned into her mouth.

Grant reluctantly pulled away from her about twenty seconds later. "As much as I'd like to continue this, we have an Inhuman we have to take in for questioning."

"We'll continue this tonight," Skye vowed, winking at him.

Although Hope, Antoine, and Grant would continue to have problems in their new reality, they all had support. And this thing between Skye and Grant was the start of something new, something they couldn't wait to explore. They both had been given a second chance they didn't intend to waste.


End file.
